Drone Records

MUELLER, JON - Tongues

Format: LP

Label & Cat.Number: Rhythmplex RPLX005

Release Year: 2016

Note: on "Tongues", JON MUELLER focuses on somehow "shamanistic" vocalizations, breaths and chants, which form - together with the usual percussive drift - two strong trance inducing pieces, the first side being more expressive, the second more subtle and transcendental... very special, powerful, surprising stuff! feat. guest musicians CORY ALLEN and WILLIAM RYAN FRITCH on harmonium, tanpura and sarangi; lim. 500

Price (incl. 19% VAT): €23.00

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More Info

Since the early 2000s, the work of Jon Mueller has examined various translations between ideas and rhythm. His records about spiritualist movements and impermanence consciousness were maximalist displays of bombastic trance signifying life--affirming energy, while his earlier focus on vibrating drumheads revealed the sonically electrical qualities of acoustic instruments; an unexpected current within dormant material.

Similarly, his new solo effort, Tongues, is an invigorating and ecstatic record of transference. Within it, voices of desperate meaning speak and howl in unknown languages, while vibrating skin, string, and metal transport them from their obscure origin. Together they project a kind of bodily singing of the world set to pummeling and relentless rhythms.

Arranged and performed by Mueller using various bass drums, percussion and his own voice, the record also features contributions from Cory Allen and William Ryan Fritch. Allen’s harmonium, tanpura and ceremonial breath (learned from shamans in the Amazon rainforest) add a tonal depth and trance--like energy. Fritch, who many will recognize from Mueller’s previous Death Blues Ensemble record, adds sarangi, played through a piano as a sort of resonant amplifier, creating a ghostly melodic sense that enriches the record’s driving rhythms with a sense of timelessness.

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